Friday, August 26, 2016

Today in Soap Opera History (August 26)

1968: The Doctors' Nick proposed to Althea.
1980: Texas' Justin rescued Rikki from a burning race car.
1981: Edge of Night's Sky plotted with Gunther against Gavin.
1991: Young and the Restless' Traci helped Brad with a Jabot ad.

"If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree."
― Michael Crichton

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

1983: On The Edge of Night, Stan Hathaway (Ronn Carroll), Nicole Cavanaugh's director at WMON, confessed to murdering Nicole and Walter Gantz. tan had a shootout with Derek, Chris, and Calvin, who chased him onto the roof. A helicopter attempted to airlift Stan, but the cable was released, and Stan fell. Before he died, Stan mentioned the Isis Building and said, "They own this town."

Julie Stevens in a CBS promotional shot for The Romance of Helen Trent.

1984: Julie Stevens, who played Helen in The Romance of Helen Trent radio soap opera during its final 16 years, died at age 65. The Romance of Helen Trent was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1990.

1986: Ted Knight, who made an early appearance in Days of our Lives as George Becker, died after a battle with cancer at age 62. He was best known for roles in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Too Close for Comfort.

1986: Denise Alexander debuted on Another World as Marissa LaSalle (aka Mary McKinnon).

1991: On The Young and the Restless, when Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) was having trouble while working on an ad for Jabot, Traci Abbott (Beth Maitland) used her expert writing skills to help him. Meanwhile, Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) and Ashley Abbott (Brenda Epperson) declared their love for each other and promised nothing would ever come between them again. Elsewhere, Flo Webster (Sharon Farrell) received a call from "Jimmy" (Michael Corbett), who was actually David Kimble with "KILLER" carved in his forehead.

1992: On CBS primetime soap opera 2000 Malibu Road, Joy Rule (Tuesday Knight) offered to get Scott Sterling's (Scott Bryce) job back if he gave her dirt on his boss. Elsewhile, Lindsay Rule (Drew Barrymore) liked Eric Adler's (Brian Bloom) movie script, and said she would love to be in it.

1996: On Another World, family and friends sad goodbye to Frankie Frame at her funeral. Frankie's husband, Cass (Stephen Schnetzer), encouraged everyone to still go to the hospital gala that night. Meanwhile, Gabe McNamara (John Bolger), Josie Watts (Amy Carlson), Gary Sinclair (Timothy Gibbs) and Morgan Winthrop (Grayson McCouch) all found proof that Fax Newman (Nick Gregory) was the murderer.

1996: Brenda Hampton's 7th Heaven premiered on The WB.

1996: Sports channel ESPN entered the world of serial drama with the premiere of Playmakers. The show depicted the lives of the Cougars, a fictional professional football team in an unidentified city. Often referred to as "a soap opera for men," its popularity quickly grew, and the the New York Times would report that it was the highest-rated program on ESPN after the network's Sunday Night NFL and Saturday college football games. However, not everyone was pleased, and it was also reported that NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, had personally complained about Playmakers to Michael D. Eisner, then chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, ESPN's parent company. When ESPN canceled the show after 11 weeks, the speculation was that the NFL had threatened to end its programming relationship with ESPN, if the show wasn't yanked.

Thanks to FoxCrane for sending in the item above.

1997: On Guiding Light, Reva Shayne (Kim Zimmer) made it seem as if Annie Dutton (Cynthia Watros) had attacked her.

2003: On The Bold and the Beautiful, Stephanie Forrester (Susan Flannery) arranged to take Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) out with the trash ... literally!

Thanks to FoxCrane for sending in the item above.

2010: John Callahan aired for the final time as Dr. Richard Baker in Days of our Lives.